How To Make Bluetooth Speakers & Computer Speakers Play Simultaneously

You can have both the speakers of your computer and Bluetooth speakers play at the same time. But there is one problem – these two speakers have different connections. Your computer speakers are wired (whether they are internal or external), and their audio is instant and high quality.

Your Bluetooth speakers, on the other hand, are wireless, and they come with a slight lag. Even if you place your Bluetooth speakers on top of your PC, they will still play a second behind the computer speakers. This scenario means instead of enjoying your music, you will have a horrendous listening experience.

However, there is a way to get these two speakers to play in harmony without too much hassle. Read on to learn more.

How To Make Bluetooth Speakers & Computer Speakers Play Simultaneously

The easiest way to play your Bluetooth and computer speakers at the same time is to make the speakers default in your Windows sound settings. The solution works perfectly for Windows 7, 8.1, and 10.

To set the sound settings for the two speakers, you need to first connect your Bluetooth speakers to the computer either through the computer’s Bluetooth connectivity or using a third-party device. Ensure the computer speakers, whether internal or external, are on.

Once everything is set, right click on the volume button from your taskbar and click on the option “Sounds.” This option will open a window from where you can select the Playback tab. If the volume button is not on your taskbar, you can get to the same settings from the control panel of your computer and select sounds.

From the Playback Tab, you will see your connected speakers. You need to right-click on the speakers and set them as default – both the Bluetooth and the computer speakers. If your speakers appear as gray, it means you are yet to establish them as default.

From the same Sounds window, open the Recording Tab and right-click on the microphone, which may sometimes appear as a stereo mix. Select the microphone properties and a new popup will appear. From the new window, open the Listen Tab and check the box next to “Listen to this device.”

There is a drop-down menu below the option “Listen to this device.” From this menu, you can pick the other speakers you need to listen to. Since you have set all the speakers, click Apply on all open dialogs and start listening to your music.

The settings above work for PC, but what if you have a Mac computer?

Playing Audio on Both Bluetooth Speakers & Computer Speakers Simultaneously on Mac

Like in Windows, you only need to adjust your Mac settings to have the two speakers play at the same time. Here, you need to set up Multi-Output Device from the System Preferences in Mac. You can use these settings whether you have internal or external speakers for your Mac.

The first step is to connect the speakers to your computer over Bluetooth. One Finder >> Applications. Navigate to Utilities and then click on Audio MIDI Setup. You will see the + button on the lower part of the screen.

Click on the + button and then the choose “Create Multi-Output Device.” From the panel on the left, select Multi-Output Device and then choose “Use This Device for Sound Output” from the menu that appears.

You can then select the devices you need to listen to by checking the boxes next to them from the list that appears on the right panel. From the drop down menu above the list of audio devices, choose the Master Device. Check the Drift Connection and choose a Slave device.

After choosing the devices you need to listen to, open System Preferences and click on Sound. Open the Output Tab and select Multi-Output Device. From there, you are ready to start playing on both the computer and Bluetooth speakers.

Although you may have challenges with volume control, your two speakers will play at the same time.

Besides the sound settings from your computer, are there other ways to play audio Bluetooth and computer speakers at the same time?

Using an Audio Mixer to Play Audio From Two Speakers

Even when you adjust your sound settings from your computer, you will still experience unmistakable delays between the sound from your primary device and your secondary device. The easiest way to solve this is to have the two devices playing in separate rooms. You can have lullabies play in your baby’s room and another play in the porch where the parrots are.

This way, there will be no confusion when one device plays the audio a fraction of a second behind the other device.

Another common challenge is volume control where you are not able to regulate the volume of one device without affecting the other. To solve this issue, you can use a third-party audio mixer such as Voicemeeter.

The audio mixer lets you adjust sound properties to experience better sound quality. This app can detect the various devices connected to your computer and allows you to choose which one to send the sound to. There are so many apps out there that allow you to play audio through your Bluetooth speakers and your computer speakers at the same time.

Voicemeeter is a free audio mixer for Windows and Mac. It lets you play audio in several devices, including headphones, speakers, and any other audio device at the same time. Another free mixer is Audio Router, which works with older Windows versions.

The main advantage of these mixers is that they remove the audio delay between different devices. You can also use them to enhance the quality of the audio, and they allow you to control volume better.

Using an Audio Splitter

Audio splitters are for those who do not want to change the settings. This option comes as a plug-and-play solution. You only need to plug the splitter into your computer and plug your speakers into one port and a Bluetooth adapter into the USB port of your computer.

This option works when you have external computer speakers. The main advantages of this solution are that you only need to plug and play without challenging setup or settings, and you will not experience audio delay. You can also play more than two devices at the same time.

If you have external speakers, Bluetooth speakers, and headphones, you can play all of them from the splitter. However, you need a quality audio splitter to ensure you do not have to deal with audio quality problems.

Closing Thoughts

If you want to play audio in two or more rooms, being able to play music from your computer and from a different audio device comes in handy. If you need a fast solution, you should tweak the settings of your computer.

However, although tweaking the sound settings allows two or more speakers to play simultaneously, you may have challenges with audio delay. To that end, you should consider an audio mixer or an audio splitter.

Without audio delay, you avoid the confusion that may arise from sounds that are not in harmony. With the audio mixer, you have so much control over the volume of the audio you play and the quality of the same audio.